Be busy but on the right things.
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Category: Progress
Write Down Your Dreams
Get creative. Remember your childhood dreams. Think of new dreams. Write all of these down.
Get them in some sort of priority order. Perhaps start with the easiest to achieve. Then the least expensive to most expensive. You definitely want a list of things that are to do before I am unable to.
Start mapping these dreams out on a calendar. Things you’ll do this year go on there now and the rest get years and months written next to each item.
Get these dropped into your life. Then work like heck to make each one happen.
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Whoosh!!!!!!
Just over 5 years ago I started writing a daily blog. I set out to work every day for one year. I wasn’t sure I’d get through three months.
But I set it in my head that every day I just had to do this one thing. Some have been long and some have been short. Regardless, I have always done one. Every. Single. Day. More than 1,830 days and therefore 1,830+ blog posts.
Whoosh. Five years can go by just like that.
Now, a few more plans are hatching for these next five years. And they’ve started…
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Focus On You
If you focus on you and make your life the best it can possibly be (health, fitness, wealth, relationships and spiritual elements), you will be independent and happy. No one will need to come and save you.
But if you focus on others, and let your elements drift and become burdensome, then you’re going to need help from others. You don’t need to do that.
So focus on making your life better every day.
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Remember To Stop
Too often things get taken too far. You can see this in so many different circumstances.
Often it is far better to enjoy the win and be content, then to seek more than you had originally wanted.
Here are some examples:
Having a few more snacks or cakes than you should. Eventually you’ve put on 3 stone.
Having a few too many drinks and waking up half way through the next day with a cracking hangover.
Putting a few little things on a credit card knowing you can’t pay off the balance. Then a few more. Soon you’re paying £1,000s in interest, yet lost interest in whatever you’re paying for.
Getting a club together to defend yourselves, like NATO, can sound like a good idea. Then after feeling quite secure, you keep adding more and more members. You feel more secure and confident but others may become more concerned and defensive.
There are many, many other examples from women’s rights (is equal enough?), unions (group v individual) and tech (how far is too far, like kissing a robot?), to buying shoes (Ms Marcos), and political coverups (it always starts small and then like a black hole, begins to engulf everything).
The key is to moderate and balance while checking the details frequently so matters don’t get out of control.
Review frequently and track progress. Don’t push things too far or you can do some damage (Like running further than you should). There is always pain after things are pushed too far. Better to stop things a little earlier than build up to a devastating situation.
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Attack The Day
Get up and get moving. Don’t think. Do.
Don’t gently roll around the house from room to room like you have eternity. Move with purpose. Get a task done quickly. Then do another. Get some momentum going. If you do three quick things, enjoy the feeling of achievement.
Then do something that takes a bit longer. Stay focused. Don’t get distracted. Finish the job. Celebrate ????.
Then go for another thing. Build your habit of seeking critical things to do and then do them.
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Celebrate Your Wins
Got to the gym today? Celebrate ????
Kept to your diet? Celebrate ????
Completed the third big step in your project? Celebrate ????
What does Celebrate mean though? Well it can mean many things. It could mean you get 20 minutes outside walking in the sun. You could meet a friend for a coffee for 30 minutes. You could buy yourself a ticket to the latest film you’ve been wanting to see. Another option would be to have a relaxing bath this evening before bed.
The celebration will be dependent on you and what you value. Try to keep most celebrations to a low or no cost budget. That way you can have far more win celebrations which will help drive your motivation and delivery of outcomes.
As you plan ever greater milestones and goals, you can up the stakes for the final celebrations. Do keep them within your budget though.
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Review Your Progress
At least once each week, you need to review your progress. You need to understand if you are getting the results you were after and if you are putting in the effort you said you would, should or needed to.
This is your brutal facts of reality moment.
No excuses. No reasons. Black and white. Yes or no. If you were supposed to go to the gym 3x in the last 5 days, did you? Yes or no? If yes, well done! If no, what will you do differently this week (Monday am to Sunday pm)? Perhaps go to the gym even earlier so other things don’t get in the way.
If you were supposed to read 10 pages of a book every night in the last 5 days, did you? Yes or no? If yes, congratulations! If no, what do you need to do differently on each of the next 7 days to ensure it happens consistently? Read when you wake up? Go to bed 30 minutes earlier and read then?
Whatever your goals are, Review your progress every week, ideally on the same day at the same time. Sunday evening is a good time for this. Make it part of your seven day success cycle as outlined in my book.
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Become Accountable To Someone
If you want to succeed or excel, pay someone to keep you accountable.
This is the magic of Weight Watchers, a job with a boss, a coach or even a parent (Though the pay is negligible).
Get someone who will actually push you and ignore your excuses and all attempts to stay stuck where you are.
You can try to do it on your own, but very few have that level of discipline.
Splurge. Set a budget for someone 5 minutes a day to get on your case. They can track your progress too. They can also help you see your own excuses for why you are not being disciplined. (Hint: you don’t want it bad enough to put the effort required in)
Do you want success or just someone to listen to why you can’t be bothered to fight hard for your own goals?
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Clear It Up Or Out
Every day in January, spend 1 hour clearing out a drawer, the left side of a cupboard or a shelf.
Donate, toss or use it. Clear out your life. Why do you have all this stuff? If it doesn’t bring you tremendous joy, make room for something that does – and that could just be uncluttered space.
If 1 hour every day doesn’t work for you, try to do it all across two separate, 8 hour days. Or, two hours, every other day. Make a firm and specific plan that works for you and then stick to it.
The decluttered space will be a joy to be in every day for the 11 remaining months of the year.
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